Sign Up for Our Living with Allergies Newsletter

Thanks for signing up!

My grandson, age 18 months, has a milk allergy. He gets a lot of itching and redness on his body. He also does not get sound sleep during the night or day because of itching due to allergy. Please advise us on a suitable ointment to stop his itching. Can his milk allergy be cured? And what diet should he follow? We are purely vegetarians.

If your grandson is allergic to milk, then all milk and dairy products should be removed from his diet. This type of allergy cannot be cured, so it’s crucial to avoid allergic triggers.

Elimination of dairy may cause the itch to resolve on its own. Unfortunately, many children suffer from multiple food or airborne allergies. Your grandson should see an allergist for full testing; it’s possible he will need an antihistamine for allergies.

Also, consulting with a nutritionist would be extremely valuable to make sure that the child is receiving enough calories and nutrients since there is more than one restriction on his diet (food allergy and vegetarianism).

Last Updated: 9/29/2008

Asthma and allergy expert Dr. Beth Corn is an assistant professor of medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, where she is chief of the asthma-allergy clinic.

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.

Advertising Notice

This Site and third parties who place advertisements on this Site may collect and use information about
your visits to this Site and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of
interest to you. If you would like to obtain more information about these advertising practices and to make
choices about online behavioral advertising, please click here.